The Kremlin, according to journalists’ calculations, has also lost entire armies and up to 70% of its ground military equipment.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has spent almost $115 billion, which is 30% of the entire Russian budget for 2021. Most of all, the aggressor country spent almost $54 billion on salaries for the military and compensation for the families of the dead and wounded soldiers. Forbes presented its calculations of financial losses, as well as losses in manpower and equipment.
During the year of the war in Ukraine, the Russian Federation lost a huge number of soldiers and entire armies were destroyed, as well as a huge amount of equipment. The famous myth of the “second army of the world” was destroyed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 12 months.
How much money did Russia spend in a year on the war in Ukraine?
According to Forbes calculations, the Russian Federation has already spent almost $115 billion on the invasion of our country, which is comparable to a third of the Russian budget for 2021. But here only spending directly on the war is taken into account, we are not talking about economic losses from sanctions.
Where did the money go:
Approximately $36 billion was spent on providing the Russian Armed Forces; Almost $54 billion was spent on the salaries of the Russian military, as well as compensation for the families of the dead and wounded invaders; The cost of Russian equipment lost during the war is estimated at $24.5 billion.
Given the huge spending on military salaries, as well as compensation for the wounded and dead during the war, the question arises whether Russia will be able to mobilize another half a million Russian citizens, as the rumors suggest. That is, can the budget of the Russian Federation withstand such a financial burden?
How many soldiers did Russia lose?
A real catastrophe for the RF Armed Forces in terms of losses occurred during the last month of the war in Ukraine. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, only for the period from January 24 to February 24, the Ukrainian military were able to destroy 23,680 Russian invaders. This is many times more than the average losses of the RF Armed Forces per month over the past year.
Forbes writes that such catastrophic losses became possible due to the transfer to the front of poorly trained mobilized Russians, former prisoners, and also as a result of offensives along almost the entire front line.
How many tanks did Russia lose during the year of the war in Ukraine?
During the year of a full-scale invasion, entire tank armies of the Russian Federation ceased to exist. For example, in the fall of 2022, it became known that the Russian Armed Forces had lost the First Tank Army of the Russian Federation, which was the largest tank formation in Europe. According to Forbes calculations, Russia lost 3,350 tanks in a year, which is even more by 20 tanks than the aggressor country had at the beginning of a full-scale invasion in February last year.
Due to such monstrous losses of armored vehicles, the Russian Federation had to resort to the reopening of warehouses for long-term storage of tanks. It is known that in August last year in these warehouses there were about 2,000 tanks that could conduct combat operations. According to Forbes, the information that Russia has tens of thousands of tanks stored in warehouses since the days of the USSR turned out to be untrue.
An analysis of open sources showed that during the 12 months of the war, Russia was able to reactivate and produce from 1000 to 1800 tanks. And this is 2-3 times less than the RF Armed Forces had at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. Forbes calculations show that during the entire war, Russia lost both destroyed and captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces tanks worth $25 billion.
How much has Russia lost other equipment?
As for other armored vehicles and artillery, the losses of the RF Armed Forces in this case are not so catastrophic. According to the publication, over the 12 months of the war, Russia lost from 40% to 70% of all its ground military equipment.
During the year of the war, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed:
471 Russian MLRS from the existing 1100 units; 2352 Russian artillery mounts out of 3080 available.
Despite the reopening of hundreds of artillery systems by Russia, their systematic destruction by the Ukrainian army led to parity at the front in these types of weapons.
A particularly acute problem for the Russians was the loss in aviation, which, although it does not play such an important role in the war in Ukraine, but the restoration of lost aircraft is a very expensive task. Russia lost about $6.5 billion worth of aircraft and $3 billion worth of helicopters.
Losses of missiles by Russia
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, at the beginning of the full-scale war, Russia had in its arsenal 2,727 long-range cruise and ballistic missiles and more than 8,500 short-range missiles that fly up to 200 km. The occupiers have already fired more than 4,000 rockets in Ukraine, but recently the rate of shelling has decreased – from 250-300 to 110-180 rockets per month. This may mean that the Russian missile arsenal is being exhausted.
According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in the first 9 months of a full-scale invasion, Russian factories produced about 80 missiles per month. But now, according to the head of the GUR, Kirill Budanov, now Russian factories can only produce about 40 missiles a month. This is due to the effect of sanctions and the lack of the required number of details. But Russia still has a stockpile of 1,100-1,300 long-range missiles, and even more short-range missiles.
According to the British intelligence report, which was presented on February 12, in 2 weeks Russia suffered the biggest losses since the start of the war of a full-scale war in Ukraine.
We remind you that according to the report of analysts from ISW, the Ukrainian army destroyed columns of equipment of an elite unit of the Russian Armed Forces near Vuhledar. We are talking about the 155th Marine Brigade, which was assigned to carry out some of the most difficult operations at the front.
